A village under the mountain

In 2008 Dave Phinney first came to Maury, a village in the Pyrénées-Orientales, France's department 66. Department 66 produces and bottles Pharaon there, in the Roussillon, inside the Côtes Catalanes. He took the reserve's name from the ship Pharaon. Wine-Searcher files the bottle as Vin de France.

The estate holds 300 acres. The vines run from 10 years old to more than 65, old-vine Grenache and Syrah on black schist and red soils. The Tramontane crosses the valley and keeps the heat moving. The rows in front of the stone houses are that ground.

Skin contact, then all-new French oak

The 2016 color runs to black cherry and purple, from Syrah that stayed on its skins in the tank, with old-vine Grenache beside it. Garrigue, anise, clove, stewed blueberry, cardamom, cedar, and vanilla come up on the nose. Raspberry, plum, and confectioner's chocolate sit in the middle, and a woodsy spice with a mineral edge opens as the glass sits. The tannins are grippy, and the acid line stays taut.

It spent 18 months in French oak, and every one of those barrels was new. Alcohol is 15.5%.

The tanks below are where that skin contact happens, steel under a concrete ceiling, before the wine ever sees a barrel.

Rosemary lamb, then steak au poivre

Rosemary lamb chops, still pink at the center, meet the garrigue and the clove. A peppercorn steak in its pan sauce meets the graphite and the chocolate.

The estate sheet does not name a dish. These plates follow the spice and the dark fruit the wine already carries.